Two international soil health initiatives, the Africa Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) and the Mediterranean Soil Health initiative (SOILS4MED), have signed a letter of agreement to advance knowledge exchange on soil health indicators and soil information systems in support of food security and sustainable land management.

AUSO is focused on building a comprehensive soil observatory for Africa, and SOILS4MED is working to harmonise soil health monitoring across the Mediterranean region.

Recognising the pressing need for comprehensive soil data and capacity strengthening to support protecting, restoring, and improving soil health, sustainable land management, and climate change adaptation, under the agreement, AUSO and SOILS4MED will exchange information and knowledge on soil health monitoring and indicator development, and collaborate on capacity strengthening activities and stakeholder engagement. The partnership aims to strengthen soil health monitoring and sustainable land management across both regions, with a particular focus on North Africa as a shared geographic interest.

Media contacts

AUSO – Africa Union Soil Observatory: Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Digitalisation & Learning Cluster Lead, babugri@faraafrica.org

SOILS4MED – Mediterranean Soil Health Initiative: Zucca Claudio, clzucca@uniss.it

About AUSO

The African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) aims to establish a comprehensive soil information system for Africa to support the management of African soils. AUSO is being developed under the leadership of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), with support from the EU Horizon programme and in collaboration with 23 consortium partners.

About SOILS4MED

SOILS4MED aims to engage a broad platform of Mediterranean scientists and stakeholders in co-designing scientifically sound, policy-relevant soil health indicator sets and harmonised monitoring strategies across the Mediterranean, with a particular focus on non-EU countries, as an enabling condition for Sustainable Soil Water Management and for the protection, restoration, and improvement of soil health and land conditions in the region. SOILS4MED is being developed under the leadership of the University of Sassari (UNISS), funded by the European Union, European Commission – EU-EC, and in collaboration with 14 consortium partners.

The post AUSO and SOILS4MED partner to advance soil health across Africa and the Mediterranean appeared first on FARA Africa.

Ag. Director of Research and Innovation, FARA

 “The world is nothing but change; our life is only perception.” — Marcus Aurelius

This timeless wisdom is fitting for World Soil Day 2025, celebrated under the theme “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities.” As Africa’s cities expand and evolve, it becomes increasingly clear that their sustainability depends on an often-overlooked foundation: the health of the soil beneath and around them. Soils are living systems that deliver essential ecological services, attenuating atmospheric toxins, degrading biotic and abiotic wastes, purifying water, cycling nutrients, storing carbon, and moderating temperature. Without healthy soils, urban environments lose their resilience, becoming vulnerable to flooding, pollution, food insecurity, and biodiversity collapse.

Africa’s urban growth is occurring across landscapes already burdened with high levels of degradation. Current assessments show that as much as 65% of the continent’s productive land is degraded, while about 45% faces risks of desertification. These trends weaken the soil’s ability to regulate water, sustain vegetation, maintain fertility, and support the peri-urban agriculture that feeds millions. Even more concerning is the accelerating pace of decline.  Over the past two decades, the proportion of degraded land in Sub-Saharan Africa has nearly doubled, rising from 7.1% to 14.5%, a rate faster than the global average and indicative of mounting pressures on ecosystems.

Urban pollution further complicates this picture. The soils in many African cities now serve as sinks for heavy metals, hydrocarbons, microplastics, and industrial wastes. Research reveals that peri-urban farmlands around some cities in Africa contain multiple heavy metals that exceed permissible limits for food-producing soils. In others, wastewater-irrigated fields exhibit zinc concentrations that surpass WHO thresholds. Such pollution poses direct threats to “life on land,” undermining plant health, degrading microbial ecosystems, and exposing urban populations, especially those reliant on city-grown vegetables, to serious health risks.

These ecological failures translate into significant economic losses.  In Africa, soil degradation contributes to an estimated 3% annual loss of agricultural GDP, draining resources that countries urgently need for infrastructure, climate adaptation, and urban development. This economic argument reinforces a simple truth: healthy soils are not an environmental luxury but a core asset for national stability and urban prosperity.

At the same time, urban and peri-urban agriculture remain a vital lifeline for African cities. Studies show that these systems supply up to 40% of cassava, 80% of poultry products, 90% of lettuce, and an astonishing 95% of fresh milk in some rapidly growing cities. When soils in these zones degrade or become contaminated, the nutritional well-being of urban households is directly jeopardized. This linkage between soil health and urban food systems underscores the urgency of coordinated action.

Aligning with the African Union Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA), several key interventions stand out. The first is the placement of real economic value on topsoil. Construction activities often remove fertile topsoil that is treated as waste, yet this material could be redeployed to restore degraded farmland, support urban greening or rehabilitate peri-urban vegetable corridors. Recovering and reusing topsoil should become standard practice in African cities. Equally important is the institutionalization of soil monitoring within urban planning. Soil assessments, contamination checks, and digital soil maps should guide city design decisions and building approvals. Nature-based solutions such as urban forests, permeable pavements, rain gardens, bioswales, and green corridors can help restore soil function while improving urban microclimates. Investments in digital soil advisory services, driven by partnerships among FARA, AARiEIs, CGIAR centres, and the African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO), will provide the real-time data needed for informed decision-making. Public awareness must also deepen, ensuring that citizens, developers, and policymakers understand that soil is a living system whose health underpins urban resilience.

As we commemorate World Soil Day 2025, the message is clear: African cities can only be as healthy as the soils that support them. Safeguarding soil health through better policies, scientific innovation, responsible urban development, and recovery of topsoil is indispensable for building sustainable, vibrant, and equitable cities for future generations.

The post World Soil Day 2025 – Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities: The Change Starts from You appeared first on FARA Africa.

Another bold step was taken in translating the vision of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP) into measurable Action and Impact. A two-day expert group meeting was held at the International Convention Center, Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss and agree on the definition of Soil health in Africa and the indicators to measure it. You will remember that the Nairobi Declaration on fertilizer and soil health 2024 recommended that “30% of the degraded soil in Africa be restored to optimum health status by 2034”.  To implement the right action and report on progress adequately, soil health must be defined clearly, and the right indicators must be identified and projected for measurement.

The AU/AUDA-NEPAD had earlier organized a task team of experts to reflect, review, and develop the first set of indicators for further consideration. Apparently, many variables contribute to Soil Health, but proxies could measure many of the variables clustered as chemical, physical, and biological.

Nineteen variables were listed to define soil health in Africa; these variables are consistent with what is obtained in other parts of the world. Chemical variables include: Soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, Exchangeable K, Available P, and Exchangeable or available secondary and micronutrients (SMN). Physical variables include Texture (note: in support of the above indicator), Soil erosion, Bulk density, Soil aggregate stability, Available water capacity, and Infiltration rate. Biological variables include Microbial biomass or its proxy, enzymatic activities, Biodiversity, AMF spores, Microbial diversity, earthworm abundance and diversity, fungal-bacterial ratio, and PMN (nitrate and ammonium).  Prof. ‘Wole Fatunbi, representing FARA, and playing the role of Technical Support Organization (TSO) for the implementation of SIA and AFSH-AP, leveraged the Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) method to reduce the variables to three key contributors.

It is imperative to seek composite indicators that could be a smart proxy for these variables; the cost of measuring about 20 variables across sites in each African country may not be feasible. A single indicator must be developed for soil health, which must be measurable.  The expert group strongly supports developing an index of Soil health as a single measure of the progression of soil health. The team further prefers a measurement design that uses remote sensing and digital soil information to derive the index from time to time.

The African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) project, supported by the EU, is developing a smart observatory and the “Africa Soil Data Center” to aid the 55 African countries in monitoring soil health progress through the Soil Health Index.

The post How do we measure Soil health in Africa? Imperative for the implementation of the Soil Initiative for Africa appeared first on FARA Africa.

Between October 13^th to 15^th 2025, the Africa Agricultural Research Innovation and Education Institutions (AARIEI), led by FARA, organized an engagement meeting with land-grant Universities in the USA to broker a partnership to support the implementation of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA). The three-day workshop was held at the Agronomy complex of the Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA.

About 112 Universities in the USA fall under the land-grant universities model and have evolved over decades with advanced science, knowledge, and technologies in different areas of Soil and land management. With the increasing interest and effort towards managing African soil for productivity and ecological services, demonstrated in the development of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP).

The AARIEI comprises of FARA, AFAAS, CORAF, ASARECA, CCARDESA, NASRO, and RUFORUM. Its focus is to foster strong contributions of science, extension, and human capital development to advance African agriculture. The AARIEI organization plays a strong networking and practical implementation role in all the continental frameworks and instruments developed to advance African agriculture.

Strong partnerships with advanced laboratories and institutions will play a key role in delivering the desired outcomes of the AFSH-AP and the SIA. Apparently, the framework requires the provision of proven technologies as solutions to known and emerging technological issues. Fostering partnerships to leverage existing knowledge and technologies for a quick solution is cost-effective. Partnership is one of the fundamental principles for implementing the SIA and the AFSH-AP. It will prevent the “reinvention of the wheel” syndrome in the search for knowledge and technologies as solutions to problems.

The Kansas meeting entails presentations from African organizations such FARA, AFAAS, RUFORUM, Sasakawa Africa Association, AGRA and IFDC. Other presentations were made by land-grant universities in the USA to explore existing partnership opportunities. The meeting plans to advance the discussion to develop a joint project for mutual benefit and jointly source funding on soil health, fertilizer manufacture management, and utilization for productive agriculture and ecosystem services. Other areas of joint interest are the human capital development on soil health and extension services. The pertinent subject of the digital soil health advisory instrument, combining soil information, climate, and agronomic data, was topical.

This effort is one additional step to fast-track the implementation of the SIA and the AFSH-AP.

The post Brokering Partnerships with USA Land Grant Universities: a step to leverage advanced Science for implementing the Soil Initiative for Africa and AFSH-AP. appeared first on FARA Africa.

Nairobi, Kenya — October 6, 2025

The African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) Project was officially launched today at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, in a high-level event bringing together African and European partners, policymakers, scientists, and development stakeholders. Running from October 6 to 8, 2025, the launch and inception meeting mark the start of a five-year Horizon Europe Innovation Action designed to generate robust, harmonized soil data and strengthen soil health management across the continent.

Funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe (Grant Agreement No. 101218840) and coordinated by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), AUSO will establish a continental soil observatory comprising the African Soil Data Centre (ASDAC) and an interactive Soil Health Dashboard. The platform will support continuous soil health monitoring, evidence-based policymaking, and targeted land management interventions across Africa.

Although Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, EGH, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture of the Government of Kenya, could not attend the launch, he was ably represented by Dr. Paul Kipronoh Ronoh, CBS, Principal Secretary at the State Department of Agriculture. Dr. Ronoh’s keynote address was delivered on his behalf by Mr. Mongo Chimwaga, EBS, Secretary of Administration at the Department of Environment, Climate and Forestry.

The speech highlighted the Government of Kenya’s strong commitment to the AUSO initiative and the pivotal role of soil data in advancing agricultural transformation.

Strong Call for Open and Interoperable Soil Data

Speakers from the African Union Commission, European Commission, EU Soil Mission Cluster, FARA, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), ISRIC, and other key partners underscored the strategic importance of the AUSO Project. Across the board, they challenged partners to work towards open data, interoperability, and usability of soil information to support evidence-based policies and sustainable land management.

“Healthy soils are at the foundation of food security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods,” said Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director of FARA. “Through AUSO, we are building a collaborative, data-driven system that will empower African countries to design and implement effective soil health strategies.”

Dr. David Kamau, Director of Environment and Natural Resources at KALRO, emphasized the central role of Kenyan institutions in driving innovation and co-creation of soil data solutions that are relevant to African contexts.

A Collaborative Continental Effort

The official launch ceremony was jointly led by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kenya), FARA, ISRIC, and KALRO, joined by AFAAS, CORAF, FAO, and the European Commission. This collective action reflects the spirit of co-development and continental collaboration underpinning the AUSO initiative.

The AUSO consortium brings together 21 African and European partners, including national agricultural research systems, universities, international research centres, and advisory services. Implementation will take place across 12 target countries—Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Morocco—with additional engagement across the continent.

Through a co-development approach, AUSO will:

• Build on the Soils4Africa Soil Information System and lessons from the EU Soil Observatory;
• Develop scalable frameworks for soil health data collection;
• Support countries to formulate national soil health strategies; and
• Enhance soil literacy among stakeholders and the public.

Launch Programme and Strategic Objectives

The three-day inception meeting includes the official launch, Work Package presentations, technical planning sessions, and the first Project Advisory Committee meeting. The event aims to foster a shared understanding of project objectives, governance, and deliverables among consortium partners, while setting a clear roadmap for coordinated implementation.

About AUSO

The African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) is a flagship initiative of the African Union, coordinated by FARA and supported by a consortium of African and European partners. The project will run from July 2025 to June 2030, with a total budget of €7.7 million, and aims to provide actionable soil data for sustainable land management and agricultural transformation across Africa.

For more information, visit https://auso.faraafrica.org or www.faraafrica.org.

Media Contacts

• Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Digitalisation & Learning Lead Specialist, FARA
  babugri@faraafrica.org
• Richard Kombat, Project Officer, AUSO Project – FARA
  rkombat@faraafrica.org

The post African Union Soil Observatory Project Officially Launched to Close Africa’s Soil Data Gaps for Sustainable Agriculture appeared first on FARA Africa.

The purpose of this agreement is to promote the sharing of scientific knowledge on soil management technologies for smallholder farmers in Africa and to disseminate and scale up these technologies among relevant stakeholders. Building on JIRCAS’s research achievements, the collaboration will support the formulation of recommendations for the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) led by FARA. Going forward, JIRCAS and FARA will advance joint research and knowledge-sharing efforts to enhance agricultural productivity, while facilitating the rapid delivery and practical implementation of research outcomes to farmers, researchers, and private sector actors under FARA’s leadership.

At the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in May 2024, the establishment of the SIA was officially declared, with FARA designated as the technical support organization to the African Union on the implementation of the actions. However, the dissemination of practical, science-based soil health technologies is ongoing . By leveraging over 50 years of accumulated expertise and technologies, JIRCAS aims to accelerate the dissemination and implementation of these practices through close collaboration with FARA.

This MOU marks an important step toward strengthening food security and contributing to economic development in Africa through sustainable agriculture. The partnership between JIRCAS and FARA is expected to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of African agriculture.

source: JIRCAS

The post FARA signs MoU with JIRCAS – Strengthening Food Security through Science-Based Soil Management Technologies appeared first on FARA Africa.

At the 13^th Plenary Session of the Global Soil Platform (GSP) held at the FAO campus in Rome, Italy, 3^rd – 5^th June 2025.

The plenary on soil health featured a key presentation by Christian Witt and Paul Luu of the BMGF and the 4per 1000 initiative; their presentations highlighted the importance of soil health notation for managing soils globally. The BMGF accentuated the importance of the soil information system and the effort and support the foundation provides at the country and continental level in Africa.

In his intervention, Prof. ‘Wole Fatunbi, the Ag. Director of Research and Innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), emphasized the need to tie all efforts on managing the soils in Africa to the continental efforts that reside in the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil health Action Plan (AFSH-AP), the AFSH-AP is the 10 years implementation framework for the SIA. He indicated the importance of the Soil information to achieve the goals of SIA and soil health ambitions. The African president set an ambitious goal of restoring 30% of the degraded lands in Africa to a healthy soil status in 10 years. The current challenge is what is a “Healthy Soil” and what indicators should be measured, what are the thresholds of these different indicators, and what index will help define a healthy soil. While efforts are going on the continent to have the indicators, the cooperation of all stakeholders are essential.

On stimulating the right action, Prof Wole emphasized the need for broad-based communication efforts, especially those that touches the last mile with the soil users, “apparently, they are the ones to ensure their production asset is truly healthy”. In principle, the Africa Soil Information System must be robust enough to provide easily accessible advisory services to the users.

The need to effectively engage all stakeholders within and outside Africa in this drive is vital to achieve the ambition of African leaders in managing the African soil. This is reposed in the SIA and AFSH-AP.

For more information on the SIA check;  https://sia.faraafrica.org

The post Africa Soil Information System must be understandable and usable by the Soil Users. appeared first on FARA Africa.

The state of knowledge and technologies about soil carbon management was the crux of discussion at the inaugural workshop of the Africa Node of the International Research Consortium on Soil Carbon (IRC-SC).

At the workshop held on the 26^th – 28^th  May 2025 at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, the key presentations and discussions are on the subject of

• Managing Green Carbon for Soil Health and Climate Change Mitigation in Africa.
• Efforts to manage Soil Carbon in Africa: Imperative for SIA and AFSH-AP
• Importance of agroforestry to Soil carbon management in Africa: Evidence from the field.
• The Contributions of the Mineral Fertilizer to Soil Carbon Management in Africa: The Facts, Myths, and Fallacies
• Making the case for Organic fertilizer manufacturing in Africa: Prospect, and benefits to carbon management
• The role of capacity building on Soil organic carbon management in Africa: Imperative for Agroecology transition
• Importance of Soil data to soil carbon management in Africa

The discussions pointed to the need to manage soil Carbon effectively as the key to halting soil degradation in Africa. Statistics show that Africa holds only 10% of the total carbon soil in the world due to the nature and properties of its soil. Despite this condition, the rate of loss of carbon soil is high due to agricultural practices and other land uses. This has a significant negative effect on agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, and climate change. The continental effort to manage African soil is the development of the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan (AFSH-AP).

Various scientific studies have indicated that integrated soil fertility management remains the best approach to ensuring agricultural productivity in Africa. It is vital to combine the application of organic fertilizer to manage soil carbon and mineral fertilizer to supply plant nutrients. A sound soil information system is necessary to develop a robust advisory tool that combines Soil information with agronomic, climatic, and market data and uses the best ICT tool to inform site-specific mineral and organic fertilizer applications.

The need for abundant biomass to produce organic fertilizer at an industrial level has received the attention of the private sector in recent years, and the momentum is building up across the continent. Efforts are needed to do appropriate labelling to inform both the humus and the nutrient content of the manufactured organic fertilizer. On another note, scientific action is needed to make recommendations on the humus application rate that will support a specific quantity of mineral fertilizer to ensure adequate supply to the plant without loss to the environment.

The Africa IRC-SC is established as part of global efforts to Raise Awareness on Soil carbon management, develop and disseminate scientific knowledge, and promote public-private synergies, implement thematic programming, contribute to a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), and expand the scope of knowledge and action of Soil carbon management.

The post Exploring the state of Knowledge and Action for Optimizing Soil Carbon in Africa appeared first on FARA Africa.

The launch marks a significant milestone in managing the continent’s most valuable production asset: African soils. For years, various efforts have been made to build soil information systems across the continent. However, these efforts often resulted in fragmented data collected using inconsistent formats, sampling techniques, and analysis methods. The data were simply not interoperable, limiting their utility and contribution to agricultural development and ecological services.

The Soils4Africa Project, implemented by 17 organizations drawn from Africa and Europe and supported by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 funding instrument, has laid the groundwork to fulfill the African vision of having its own soil information system. The project partners have developed a robust soil sampling methodology, protocol, and analysis method over the last five years. They have collected soil samples from 33 African countries, analyzed the data, and developed the African Soil Information System. This system serves as the launchpad for a more robust platform entrenched in the Soil Initiative for Africa (SIA) and the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan, tailored to meet all the identified needs for a soil information system in Africa.

Dr. Janet Edeme, Head of Rural Development Division & Acting Head of Agriculture, African Union Commission

In a keynote address delivered on behalf of His Excellency Moses Viliakati, the Commissioner for DARBE, by Dr. Janet Edeme, Head of the Rural Development Division and Acting Head of Agriculture at the African Union Commission, he reiterated the urgent need for a fully functional soil information system to inform policy decisions on land use, investment in fertilizer manufacturing, blending, and use, as well as effective soil management. He emphasized the need for Africa to build on existing strong foundations—as exemplified by the Soils4Africa project—rather than reinventing the wheel.

Professor Ayasu Elias, State Minister for Agriculture, Ethiopia

Professor Ayasu Elias, the State Minister for Agriculture in Ethiopia, emphasized the importance of a reliable soil information system in agricultural development. He highlighted Ethiopia’s progress in utilizing its national soil information to drive notable successes in the country’s agricultural sector.

Ms. Bongiwe Njobe, Chair of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Board of Directors

Madam Bongiwe Njobe, Chair of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Board of Directors, also underscored the role of soil information systems in developing localized fertilizer blends and guiding efficient fertilizer use across Africa. She called on African stakeholders to “jealously guard” the system and ensure its full utilization.

Rik van den Bosch, Director General of ISRIC – World Soil Information

Rik van den Bosch, Director General of ISRIC – World Soil Information, highlighted ISRIC’s global leadership in soil data and its role in supporting continents, including Africa, in building robust soil information systems. He noted that African soil data belongs to Africa; it should be hosted by an African organization and developed in line with Africa’s interests.

Dr. Elise van Eynde of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), handing over the emblem of the Soil Information System to the African Union,

In a well-animated handover ceremony, the European Union representative at the occasion, Dr. Elise van Eynde of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), handed over the emblem of the Soil Information System to the African Union, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the AU-EU partnership for agricultural research and development. While receiving the emblem on behalf of the African Union, Madam Bongiwe Njobe expressed FARA’s commitment to host the continental Soil Information System and rally stakeholders to develop it into a fully functional instrument that serves African needs and interests.

For more information:

Prof. Wole Fatunbi (ofatunbi@faraafrica.org)
Benjamin Abugri (babugri@faraafrica.org)

The post Africa Launches the Groundbreaking Soil Information System appeared first on FARA Africa.

One such initiative is the Soils for Africa (S4A) Initiative, which has been pivotal in shaping Africa’s agricultural landscape. The S4A initiative has developed a continental, harmonised baseline of soil information crucial for decision support. It responds to the longstanding fragmentation of soil data in Africa, providing policymakers, fertiliser manufacturers, extension service providers, smallholder farmers, and the private sector with reliable, actionable soil data to inform better decisions for sustainable agricultural practices.

Building on this momentum, FARA and ISRIC are conducting a first-level Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for selected African ICT and Knowledge Management (KM) experts. This important step aims to strengthen national and regional capacities to use and host the African Soils Information database developed under the Soils for Africa initiative, now being advanced through the Soils Initiative for Africa (SIA) championed by the African Union Commission (AUC). The AUC has designated FARA as the Technical Support Organisation for the African Soil Information System and the Soils Initiative for Africa.

The Accra Training: Building the First Cohort of Soil Information Ambassadors

The first cohort training is taking place in Accra, Ghana, from April 23 to 26, 2025. Participants selected are undergoing intensive capacity development on the technical and operational aspects of soil information systems, positioning them as the first ambassadors in scaling the African Soil Information System across the continent.

A strong call to action marked the opening ceremony on April 23. Delivering remarks on behalf of the Executive Director of FARA, Dr Aggrey Agumya, the Acting Director for Research and Innovation, Prof Oluwole Fatunbi, welcomed participants and highlighted the critical importance of the initiative:

• He noted that the gathering represented a pool of experts tasked with addressing the current fragmentation of soils data across Africa, a gap ISRIC is technically supporting to bridge.
• He underscored the strategic importance of soil information to key stakeholders – from fertilizer companies to extension workers and policymakers – emphasizing that managing Africa’s soils better is fundamental to agricultural transformation.
• Trainees were encouraged to take the opportunity seriously, likening them to the “first apostles” of the Soil Information System rollout.
• He also pointed to future plans to scale this effort under the African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) Project, funded by the European Commission, expected to commence later in the year.
• Finally, he warmly welcomed all participants to Accra, with a special mention to the technical trainers from ISRIC.

In her remarks, Mary Steverink-Mosugu, Projects Coordinator from ISRIC, expressed appreciation to FARA for the strong collaboration and reiterated ISRIC’s commitment to supporting Africa’s drive for better soil management through technical excellence and shared expertise.

A Deep Dive into Soil Information Systems: Program Highlights

Facilitated by Luis Calisto and Eric Asamoah, both experts from the ISRIC – World Soil Information, the four-day training program was designed to provide a comprehensive and practical immersion into soil information systems and related technologies:

Main Workshop Facilitator Luis Calisto, ISRIC

• Day 1: Participants received an overview of the Soils for Africa project and the upcoming AUSO project. Key sessions covered soil data collection principles, FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) practices, and methodologies for organising and serving soil data.
• Day 2: The training featured a guided tour of the Soil Information System (SIS), hands-on exploration of SIS interfaces, and a technical breakdown of SIS architecture and its integration components.
• Day 3: Participants delved deeper into advanced SIS architecture topics, including Git repositories, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CICD) pipelines, and assessment of FARA’s human and infrastructure capacity readiness for hosting and expanding the system.
• Day 4: The final day focused on evaluating training outcomes, assessing FARA’s policy and infrastructure landscape for soil information system deployment, and defining next steps for broader rollout and sustainability.

The workshop concluded with a call for continuous collaboration and knowledge sharing as Africa sets the foundation for a robust, accessible, open and user-driven soil information system critical for achieving sustainable food systems on the continent.

The post Laying the Foundations: Africa’s First Cohort of Soil Information Experts Trained in Accra appeared first on FARA Africa.